The thing no one prepares you for…

I'm pretty sure "having it all together" is the biggest myth sold to modern moms. But the thing that surprised me most about mom life wasn't just how hard it is—it’s how we go in totally blind with no real guide for getting there or pulling it off.

Before becoming a mom myself, I was a classroom teacher, and a very successful one at that. So when I found out I was expecting my first baby, I assumed life as a parent would come easy to me.

But not a week into being a mom, I vividly recall rocking my newborn son in the nursery, saying to my friend, “Why didn't anyone tell me how hard this would be? I know other moms feel this. Why is this just not talked about?”

To be honest, over a decade into it, it's still hard. Because what I've realized is that the kids themselves are 10% of it.

It’s the other 90% that makes mom life nearly impossible to navigate and feel like you’re doing well at it. From the societal pressure to be the ever-present mom, to the expectation that you also maintain a career—and all the household labor, mental load, and emotional work you take on—it's too much.

The generally expected response is for mothers to do more, organize more, cut the fat... but that doesn’t support the core issue: modern mom life expects women to give their time, energy, and resources to everyone else and lose themselves in the process.

THAT is why mom life is so hard. And that is why no amount of time management strategies or perfect routines will ever make it easier.

So, what is Mom Life Handbook?

While I can't say exactly what you can focus on in your life to make it feel more doable and enjoyable, I can share my experiences here so you can copy my notes and see what might work for you.

I’ll never claim to be an expert. I definitely don't believe one-size-fits-all advice will do any of us any good in the long run. But I do see the value in sharing what really does make mom life a challenge, how I’m navigating it, and what’s working for me in the moment.

That’s the whole idea behind this official-unofficial guide. It's not about achieving some impossible standard of perfection. It’s the realization that "feeling like you have it all together" just means feeling more like yourself. And sometimes, the best way to get there is by seeing how someone else is navigating the chaos.

So, I'll keep sharing my notes. If that’s what you need more of, you’re in the right place.

x Erin

If You’re New Here—

Mom Life Handbook is a space for moms who are tired of content that just adds more to their plate. It’s support that helps you think clearly and navigate the chaos of modern life with a little more ease.

There are two ways to be a part of it:

📩 Free subscribers get my monthly personal essay, A Little Less, sent straight to your inbox.

🔒 Paid subscribers get everything else: The Monthly Reset to prep for the month ahead, my private audio notes in Off The Record, access to The Group Chat, and the complete post archives.